Visitors can enjoy two Texas traditions this year – great bands and barbeque. Trace Arnold of Justin, Texas – dubbed “the rib whisperer” by his wife – is in charge of the 80-foot rig that boasts of “the Ultimate Grilling Experience.” Arnold travels the country for the History Channel.

The Ultimate Smoker & Grill has a smoker chamber with a 4-foot by 10-foot grill beneath a 20-foot hydraulic lid. The chamber can slow smoke more than 2,000 pounds of meat – 1,000 hot dogs, 500 hamburgers or 200 16-ounce steaks – at one time.

Arnold says it took about 25 years to perfect his special rub and secret sauce. Everything he uses is fresh and made daily – “no canned foods, no frozen foods,” he says. In addition to smoked meat, the menu includes homemade cole slaw and potato salad, fresh cucumber and broccoli salads, fresh baked beans, and a creamy cheesy corn bake made with corn that’s smoked and grilled in the morning before it’s mixed with cheeses.

Everything is bigger in Texas, and Arnold wanted that to include his Ultimate Smoker & Grill: “I wanted to build it as big as I possibly could to be legal in Texas.” From big smokers comes big taste – which can be found this year at Richardson’s Wildflower!

Tickets are on sale at area Tom Thumb stores or through the Wildflower! website: http://www.wildflowerfestival.com/tickets.html. A three-day pass is $30, single-day adult is $20 and kid’s pass (age 5-12) is $3. On Sunday, May 19, kids 12 and under get in free with a paid adult courtesy of Bank of America. Sunday is also half-price day for adults – tickets are only $10 courtesy of Cisco Systems. Check the website for the festival’s 15 for $15 group ticket promotion and for directions to the festival.

Wildflower! Richardson’s Arts & Music Festival began in 1993 as a small community event held in a local park in northeast Richardson, Texas, to celebrate the acres of wildflowers planted around the city. Twenty-one years later the festival has become the premier music event in the region with more than 1,200 volunteers and attendance surpassing 60,000 a year. The festival is produced by the City of Richardson annually the third weekend in May.